Leap of Faith
by SonicTeamCE
Summary: "I'm not going to be there every time you feel like jumping out of a spaceship!" And you are so wrong. This is a fluffy little oneshot about the first jump. Enjoy


**AN ~ Less than 29 hours to go! I can't believe it's finally nearly here! Have a Doctor/River oneshot to celebrate. More Who stuff on the way! Suggestions welcome (any character/pairing/theme)**

Leap of Faith

Sirens blaring, red light and smoke turning her hair copper, River sprinted through the tunnel. She burst out onto red dust and another plume of smoke as the ground trembled and roared, and opened up in front of her.

Skidding to a halt, River cursed her strappy red heels as they dug into her feet. To be fair when she had been getting dressed for this evening, she had not anticipated that she would be requiring such a fast escape.

She couldn't see the bottom of the chasm, and through the smoke, she could just barely make out the other side. Out here the smoke was darker and thicker than in the tunnel, swirling with the roar of the black hole that was chewing up the planet from the inside.

Looking around there was not much to save her from dispair. She was alone on an island, in a tornado of dust and stuffy, hot wind. It was only a matter of time.

_Vworp, vworp, vworp…_

In the roaring wind the sound was faint, but she was certain of it. She looked for it, and saw dimly the outline of a familiar blue box appear, hanging over the chasm. The door protested as her Doctor flung it open, frock coat, fringe and even bow tie flapping furiously as he braced his body against the frame and held his arms out to her.

_I can't come any closer, _he said. He wasn't shouting, his lips weren't even moving, but she could hear him perfectly: his voice was in her head. How was he doing that?

_I'll explain later, _he replied, giving her no time to react before he added, _you're going to have to jump._

River frowned at him through the growing storm. The second her feet left the ground and her dress, currently trapped against her legs by the gale force winds, she would be thrown like a pebble from a slingshot. She would never make that far.

_Not in this wind, no, _the Doctor replied, with a hesitant undertone that foreshadowed his next suggestion. _You'll have to go down._

He nodded at the gaping crack at her feet. River stepped forward, until the wind whipping her skirts threatened to topple her. She looked down. It seemed even deeper and darker than before: not only could she not see the bottom, it seemed as if there was not one there at all. There wasn't even dust. She was staring into the black hole.

As she stared, the Tardis rematerialised against the pitch-black backdrop, the Doctor apparently unaffected by the fact that the Tardis now appeared to be lying on its back. His fringe hung in his eyes and he left it there, imploring her, arms still outstretched.

_You want me to jump into a vacuum? Why would I do that?_

_Because you're River Song, _he replied, as though he knew that she had guessed at his answer. _And yes, I am. Trust me. I will catch you, I swear._

She looked over her shoulder again. The roof of the corridor from which she had just emerged was being peeled to pieces by the storm. She only had a few seconds before it would reach her.

_Fine. Get out of the way. _Gritting her teeth, she took a few steps back and pulled off her shoes. The ground was sharp, and surprisingly warm. Clutching one corner of her skirt in a tight fist, to try and keep it out of the way, she let her remaining hesitancy be torn away by the roaring wind and flung herself at the edge of the cliff. One two three rapid steps and she launched.

Instantly she was yanked sideways, but her path was only skewed slightly as the force of the black hole pulled her quickly downwards, into the sheltered abyss. The roaring wind cut out at the same time the Tardis' far less intense gravity field caught her. In the moment of transition she hung in suspended silence, before she dropped again -

- straight into something frightfully cold, and wet. Her limbs, prepped to roll on a hard floor, lashed out for a moment, searching for grip, for balance. Following a trail of bubbles she fought her way up and soon surfaced, coughing and spluttering, in the Tardis pool.

"I hate you!" she gasped, breathing hard as she got her bearings.

"No, you don't." The Doctor, crouched by the edge of the pool, grinned and reached for her as she swum for the edge and climbed out.

As she stood, he checked her up and down, frowning at her cuts and bruises until she pulled her arm away and tried to wring out her waterlogged curls. He frowned, worried that he had offended her with his fretting, but she was grinning, with a noticeably devilish twist to her lip and a sparkle of mischief in her eyes.

"That was fun," she concluded. "I bet I do that a lot."

"Oh, you do," he replied, grinning back and tweaking her nose before he ran off to fetch her some towels.


End file.
